Alexander Hamilton at the age of 17 was considered one of the greatest communicators of his day. An eloquent speaker, when he spoke he held the attention of all within hearing distance.
At that time the spread of news was limited to word of mouth and what few newspapers were available. Alexander was concerned so many people showed little interest in what was going on in their budding new country. He referred to these people as town pump gossipers, because they seemed content only with what was happening around them.
I see a parallel between those days and now. I believe today most readers of the local newspapers scan the world and local news, the sports pages and stop there. They ignore the most informative part of the paper, the editorial page. These columns are written by professionals. People who are capable of expressing themselves adequately. We will not agree with everything they write and that's how it should be, but being exposed to various viewpoints should help us make the decisions that could be critical the next time we enter the voting booth.
In Washington D.C. we have a bunch of overpaid decision-makers whose actions are being stagnated by political pressure and the fear of offending their constitutions. Consequently, nothing is getting done.